The World and Everything in It: July 15, 2025

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MYNRA BROWN, HOST: Good morning!

As recovery efforts continue in Texas, questions remain about whether the emergency alert system gave people enough time to act.

GERARD: There have been some reports that some people did get the cell phone alert. But obviously, it’s a rural area.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also today, sorting signal from noise in Russia’s war with Ukraine.

And a Virginia farmer taps into much more than syrup.

CONNER: We do know that this farm can produce what's necessary for us to live and give us a good quality lifestyle.

And WORLD Opinions contributor Daniel Suhr on sermons and the state.

BROWN: It’s Tuesday, July 15th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

BROWN: Up next, Kent Covnington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Russia-Ukraine latest » President Trump is throwing down the gauntlet on Russia's war with Ukraine.

Speaking from the Oval Office yesterday, the president said Russia has 50 days to agree to a peace deal with Kyiv, or the United States will target Moscow's trading partners with heavy tariffs.

TRUMP: We’re gonna be doing secondary tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days. It's very simple. And they'll be at 100 percent.

Hitting those who do business with Russia with heavy tariffs could further isolate Moscow or perhaps motivate its trading partners to turn up pressure on Putin to end the war.

Trump said Putin's words aren't matching his actions.

TRUMP: I speak to him a lot about getting this thing done. And I always hang up and say, well, that was a nice phone call, and then missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city. And I said, strange. And after that happens three or four times, you say, the talk doesn't mean anything.

In Kyiv:

ZELENSKYY: [In Ukrainian]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked President Trump during his nightly address.

SCOTUS on Education Dept » The Supreme Court has cleared the way for President Trump’s plan to scale back the US Dept. of Education.

In a 6-to-3 decision, the justices on Monday paused a lower court order that had temporarily blocked the administration from laying off nearly 1,400 employees.

Trump’s Education Secretary Linda McMahon says the move is about de-centralizing control outside of Washington.

MCMAHON:  This, um, lifts the handcuffs off of what we've been trying to do, which really is to get education back to the states where the president believes it does belong. The best education is that closest to the student.

The ruling allows the White House to move forward with efforts to wind down the department—one of Trump’s major campaign promises.

The administration says the department’s core responsibilities, like managing federal student loans, could be shifted to other agencies.

The court’s three liberal justices dissented, saying only Congress can eliminate the department, and the judiciary has a duty to check lawlessness, not expedite it.

One year after Butler, lawmakers call for protection » One year after an attempt on Donald Trump’s life on the campaign trail in Butler, Pennsylvania, some lawmakers say there are still too many unanswered questions. GOP Sen. Dave McCormick:

MCCORMICK:  I still feel very unsatisfied with the, with the lack of clarity on how this could possibly have happened.

The Pennsylvania senator was at the rally that day when a gunman grazed Trump’s ear with a bullet and killed a man seated behind the then-former and future president.

Some on Capitol Hill say it’s also time to consider protection for members of Congress. Republican Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene:

GREENE:  All of my colleagues here can tell you all of their personal stories of death threats they've dealt with. Um, and, and I think we do need, we do need protection and, and we, we don't have any.

Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot and critically wounded in 2011. Six years later, Republican Steve Scalise, who was then the House Majority Whip was also critically wounded by gunman.

Texas flood update » In Central Texas, crews on Monday resumed their search for victims of recent catastrophic flooding, with at least 130 dead and more than 160 still missing.

More heavy rain forced them to pause the search over the weekend.

Silvia Carranza is with Operation Blessing and says volunteers are pitching in from all over the world.

CARRANZA: We come from all over. I'm from Mexico, I came from Mexico. We have people from Honduras, Chile. Someone's coming from Costa Rica.

On the ground, residents who lost their homes and loved ones say the support they’ve received has made all the difference.

Colleen Lucas’ home was not insured against flooding.

LUCAS: It's really emotional. It's been a blessing. God has watched over us through this whole ordeal. And I cannot express how much I appreciate everything that they have done for us.

Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on lawmakers to review flood warning systems, emergency communications protocols, and recovery efforts.

He added four flood-related agenda items to the state legislature’s special session next week.

Assisted living fire » Meantime in Massachusetts, at least nine people were killed, when flames ripped through an assisted-living facility.

One survivor said she was trapped inside the building as smoke filled her room.

AUDIO:  The sprinkler system was burning hot water on my back. I went into the bathroom, filled with smoke. I opened the window as far as I could, and then I hung out the window yelling, help, help second floor, and someone above me was yelling, help. Help.

Another 30 people were injured in the incident.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey called the tragedy heartbreaking but added that given all of the factors involved, it’s miraculous that even more lives were not lost.

HEALEY:  Many were in wheelchairs. Many were immobile, many had oxygen tanks. They were severely compromised individuals in this assisted living facility, which made it all the more challenging.

The fire broke out at the Gabriel House facility in Fall River, about 50 miles south of Boston.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze.

John MacArthur obit » John MacArthur has died. The longtime pastor and author died Monday after battling pneumonia.

A passionate Bible teacher, he led Grace Community Church in Sun Valley California… from 1969 until the time of his death.

His Grace to You radio ministry began in 1977 and eventually reached listeners worldwide.

MacArthur wrote nearly 400 books and study guides, including the bestselling MacArthur Study Bible.

He devoted his life to— as he put it—“unleashing God’s truth, one verse at a time.”

John MacArthur was 86 years old.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: evaluating the Central Texas Flood Alert warning system. Plus, what’s really happening in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Tuesday, the 15th of July.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

First up on The World and Everything in It: sounding the alarm.

When record rainfall hit Central Texas on the Fourth of July, the floods came fast and with deadly force. Entire campsites were overrun while families slept. Now officials and residents are beginning to ask hard questions: was this flood more a tragic act of nature, or a failure to warn?

BROWN: From cell signals to sirens, emergency alerts are under the microscope. WORLD’s Lauren Canterberry reports.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY: Texas Hill Country is known for its rolling landscape and rivers that cut through the hills, drawing visitors to their banks. Vacationers come throughout the year, but especially in the summer when swimming and tubing offer a reprieve from the dry Texas heat.

Even as the populations in nearby cities boom and building projects abound, much of the Hill Country remains wild, undeveloped, and rural.

Those who live in the region know that underneath its beauty, the rolling hills and meandering rivers can quickly turn dangerous. Dan Schreiber is a certified consulting meteorologist in the area.

SCHREIBER: This part of Texas, you know, including Kerr County is called Flash Flood alley, and so very similar to, like Tornado Alley. When rainfall occurs, it will flow down those slopes and into these riverines and creeks and watersheds.

The so-called alley stretches from South Western Texas up to Dallas. Steep slopes lining the rivers, shallow soil, and frequent heavy rains contribute to make the region one of the most flood-prone areas in the country.

Schreiber says that residents receive flood warnings from the federal Wireless Emergency Alert System regularly. Not all of them materialize.

SCHREIBER: We're very used to getting weather watches. It can be easy to become complacent.

On the afternoon of July 3rd, the regional National Weather Service office issued a flash flood watch for the western Hill Country. By the early morning hours of July 4th, the watch had upgraded to a warning as the Guadalupe River filled rapidly. Kerr County bore the brunt of the fatalities.

Alan Gerard is a retired meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

GERARD: There have been some reports that some people did get the cell phone alert in the area. But obviously, it’s a rural area. I’m sure cell phone coverage is not universal in that region. And of course, it was 1:15 in the morning, which is not the greatest time to be trying to get people to act and evacuate from an area.

By 4 a.m., Kerr County upgraded the warning to a flash flood emergency as raging water swept through children’s summer camps and campsites where hundreds of people were sleeping. The following day, Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for 15 counties.

ABBOTT: We will stop at nothing to ensure that every asset and person and plane and whatever is needed is going to be involved in the process of rescuing every last person and ensure everybody involved in this is going to be fully accounted for.

Just over a week after the flood, Texas officials say the raging water killed more than 130 and search teams are still looking for more than 160 missing people. Among the dead are 27 children and counselors from the Christian girls camp Camp Mystic that sits along the Guadalupe River.

As rescue and recovery teams converged along the river, many were left wondering what more could have been done to stop the tragedy, or at least to ensure it does not happen again.

Schreiber says a key challenge is making sure weather warnings get the urgency of the situation across in time so that people make proactive decisions.

SCHREIBER: When you look at some of the comments from the Kerr County officials, you know that some of them were saying, well, we didn't know it was going to be this bad, or the river floods all the time. It does kind of show that when a flash flood warning is issued, it might not be that bad, because that's what history has told them.

In the last decade, Kerr County has received nearly 300 flood advisories or flash flood warnings. The vast majority were not deadly.

Though most floods do not end in tragedy, the county has long debated if and how to install flash flood warning sirens. In 2017, Kerr County officials submitted a grant application to FEMA to help install high water detection systems, gauges, and possible outdoor sirens.

The application was denied because the county lacked a hazard mitigation plan. By the time they resubmitted it, emergency management resources had been refocused on the response to Hurricane Harvey. Despite local lawmakers discussing a new warning system numerous times over the last decade, it was never finalized.

Meanwhile, the small town of Comfort down river from Kerr County did install a siren system that was activated on July 4th. Every citizen survived the flooding. Nearby Comal County also installed warning sirens in 2015.

While some say such a system could have saved lives in Kerr County, Schreiber said it may not be so straightforward.

SCHREIBER: Sirens can obviously be helpful if you can hear them, but also when it's raining really hard and there's lightning and thunder going on and, you know, it's stormy outside, it's difficult, if not impossible, to hear a siren unless you're very close to it.

Abbott last week added four flood-related items to the state legislature’s special session agenda this month to examine flood warning and communication systems. While local officials are prioritizing recovery efforts, they have promised to review their response. Here’s Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha.

LEITHA: As with other significant events that our emergency services encounter, this incident will be reviewed. You have my word. When or if necessary, improvements need to be made, improvements will be made.

Meanwhile, Gerard says more research is needed to improve forecasting models and make flood warnings more accurate.

GERARD: There's obviously a lot of talk about, you know, evacuating once the warnings are issued, but obviously the best case scenario would be that we'd have known Tuesday evening that what was going to happen was going to happen, and we could have gotten people out before the rain even started.

He says these types of events are preventable if meteorologists could more accurately pinpoint where a flood would hit and work with local authorities to develop an evacuation plan. But researchers are struggling to fund those scientific breakthroughs.

GERARD: Right now, the President's budget for next year eliminates NOAA's Research Program, which would basically put this kind of research, I'm assuming, more on universities and private sector.

While experts and officials begin analyzing and reviewing what went wrong and how to avoid similar disasters, the communities of Central Texas are mourning their loss. As the flood cut short countless lives, it also turned a serene landscape into one of destruction, forever changing the once peaceful retreat.

For WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry with reporting by Addie Offereins.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Up next, a clearer signal in the fog of war.

Talks between Russia and Ukraine remain stalled, with Moscow demanding sweeping concessions, including a smaller Ukrainian military and large swaths of land. Kiyv isn’t budging.

President Donald Trump weighed in again yesterday on the subject … warning of economic consequences.

TRUMP: We're very, very unhappy with them, and we're going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don't have a deal in 50 days. Tariffs at about 100%. You'd call them secondary tariffs.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Meantime, experts say the war isn’t confined to the battlefield. It’s a war of narratives, too. One where Russian propaganda is convincing some in the west that Ukraine’s a lost cause. WORLD Reporter Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Glenn Corn is a professor at the Institute of World Politics. He says for years now, the Russian military hasn’t been doing as well on the battlefield as it says it has.

CORN: They had a lot of failures on the battlefield. The Ukrainians counterattacked and had a very effective counteroffensive. And then the battlefield froze, and the Russians were able to dig in.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies says the Russian military has suffered nearly a million casualties in Ukraine.

And Russia has only gained an average of 50 meters a day. During the Battle of the Somme, one of the slowest and bloodiest battles of World War 1, the allies gained an average of 80 meters a day.

CORN: The Russians are definitely taking territory, but much smaller pieces of territory than they want. And the price they're paying for that is huge.

And Corn says the Russian home front is feeling the pain of those losses. Putin’s decision to keep putting troops on the battlefield has placed a major burden on the Russian economy.

CORN: They're paying a large salaries to troops to go fight and benefits to the families of the Russian troops that are casualties.

And the sanctions levied against Russia by the West have been making that economic pressure even worse.

CORN: The Russian economy is in shambles in many ways. They're having to make very, very tough decisions. Civilian parts of the economy are struggling… They've put almost everything in their economy into their defense industries…

But Corn says Russia believes all that could change if the Kremlin can get the United States to step out of the war by convincing the West that Russia is powerful and Ukraine is a lost cause.

He says that’s part of why Russia is making such extreme demands during peace talks.

CORN: They are trying to discredit the Ukrainians…But the Russians so far have—in my opinion—have not been sincere when they claim they are ready to negotiate. And the evidence of that is doing things like making these maximalist demands that they know the Ukrainians can't agree to.

But discrediting Ukraine isn’t just a task for the negotiating table. Russia has a massive disinformation apparatus that’s tackling that same task in cyberspace—and has been for years.

LINVILL: One of the main tactics that they use now is a concept called narrative laundering.

Darren Linvill is a professor at Clemson University specializing in Russian disinformation.

He says narrative laundering is a three-step process that involves, first, planting a claim, story, or fact, second, getting more and more voices to repeat that claim, story, or fact, and then finally getting that claim, story, or fact integrated into the larger public conversation about the war.

To get the story out initially, Russia uses fake, artificial intelligence-generated news websites with legitimate-sounding names, or it pays foreign media outlets to run fabricated stories.

But another and more effective way of peddling disinformation is social media influencers.

LINVILL: These influencers are part of communities that trust them and they in many cases have hundreds of thousands of followers. So a story that they repeat or share is very likely to be picked up and shared by their followers.

But how does all this work in real time?

LINVILL: Let me show you an example…

Linvill showed a video of two men dressed in camouflage fatigues and wearing masks. The man closest to the screen wore a Ukrainian trident on his shoulder.

VIDEO: [Gunfire sounds]

The two men opened fire on a mannequin wearing a red hat and a Trump-Vance, 2024 T-shirt.

VIDEO: [After the gunfire stops]

After shooting the mannequin, one of the men bent down and set fire to a trail of gasoline that snaked toward the mannequin and engulfed its feet in flames.

LINVILL: It looks like something that I would have made in my backyard when I was in middle school… But it is actually I think, a absolutely brilliant video. Because… It's simple. It tells a very simple narrative that you know almost immediately. You don’t have to watch the whole video.

Brilliant or not, the video is fake. Linvill explains that it’s a piece of Russian disinformation. But that didn’t stop it from going viral.

LINVILL: If you were a right -leaning American you saw this video. If were a right -leaning American on X or Telegram the day after the election you almost surely saw this video.

The video was the start of Russia’s lobbying campaign against the Trump administration… trying to push it back from supporting Ukraine.

LINVILL: How do I know that? We tracked where the video came from.

The video first appeared online weeks earlier, when a brand new account posted it to a channel on the social media app Discord. It went through several pro-Russia accounts on various social media apps before English-speaking social media influencers began reposting it for American viewers.

LINVILL: And you can see this one post had 12 .4 million views. And several other posts had hundreds of thousands or over a million views as well. I mean, it went crazy.

Linvill says this sort of operation takes place all the time.

But Professor Glenn Corn says the White House is starting to look past Russia’s lies. He applauded Trump’s recent ultimatum, giving Russia 50 days to end the war or else face severe sanctions and increased American support for Ukraine.

CORN: President Trump probably knows that Putin's economic situation inside of Russia is not very good. So doubling down on sanctions and not only sanctions, but other things that we c an do to increase pressure on the Russian economy, I think would also be very painful for Putin and his regime.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Tuesday, July 15th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: maple syrup—southern style.

When you think of maple syrup … you probably start with the country that has a maple leaf on its national flag … Canada does produce at least three quarters of the global maple syrup supply. The US produces pretty much the rest—with the very cold, Northeastern state of Vermont accounting for most of American maple syrup production.

BROWN: But you may be surprised to find out that it’s possible to produce maple syrup as far south as Virginia.

Tucked into the Allegheny Mountains of western Virginia is the state’s only organic maple syrup farm.

Here now is WORLD’s Kristen Flavin with the story of a man who found his calling later in life, fueled by faith, family, and a forest of sugar maples

SOUND: [ATV engine turns over]

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Kevin Conner is heading into the woods.

KEVIN CONNER: Alright you’re going to want to … Have you spent much time in side-by-sides? [AO: Not really (laughs)]

He fires up his all-terrain vehicle to go check on his sugar maple trees. He took my colleague Addie Offereins on the ride and she recorded an interview with him.

CONNER: Everything is broken on a farm. Or there’s always something broken on the farm and we’re always in different states of repairs on different pieces of equipment…

These woods are part of Conner’s roughly 160 acre farm situated at the edge of the Allegheny mountains near the West Virginia border.

CONNER: This pasture has to get mowed down today, tomorrow…

During the summer, Conner spends his time maintaining the property, because in the winter, this area becomes the perfect place for making maple syrup. The winters are colder and longer than the rest of the state. But the window for collecting sap is short.

CONNER: Up in New England, their seasons could last for a month or two. Ours can go anywhere from two weeks, sometimes six weeks, but never more. So we make syrup only in this early spring. The closer we get to the spring and the warmer those days become, now the water in the tree begins to move. That's when the harvest takes place.

Sugar maples are just one of the many kinds of trees in the Mill Gap Farm forest. Tree variety is one criteria for earning the status: USDA-certified organic.

CONNER: We’ve got cherry oak, hickory, there’s ash. They want a good well-balanced forest.

The USDA also has rules about pesticides, certain types of oils used when boiling the sap, and the number of times a farmer can tap a tree. Conner follows all those guidelines.

And he starts tapping his trees in late January or early February. To do that, he uses a special drill to make a small hole in the trunk and then he uses a hammer to insert food-grade plastic tubing. Here he demonstrates the process to his almost 14,000 subscribers on YouTube.

CONNER: Now you're gonna hear it, it’s gonna change pitch. Once you get that pitch change, it’s in where it needs to be.

He discovered his passion for making syrup rather late in life. Other people his age are nearing retirement, but the 58-year-old Conner doesn’t anticipate his work ending anytime soon.

CONNER: This is my retirement basically, so where most folks might have money in IRAs or different things. I chose to take my money out of the market and put it into a farm.

Conner also met and married his wife later in life. They had their first of two children when he was 49. The Conners chose their life on the farm in hopes of raising their kids in a small community built on God’s values.

CONNER: We have certain savings and that sort of thing, but not enough to live for the next several years. But we do know that this farm can produce what's necessary for us to live and give us a good quality lifestyle so that every day we are productive and that we are doing things that honor him. And I think that's a little bit different than the mainstream.

Though Mill Gap Farm is the state’s only organic maple operation, it’s not the only maple syrup farm in Virginia’s Highlands. The Conners had to find just the right niche in the market.

CONNER: So we make maple, maple sugar, we make maple candies. Then we get into specialty syrups. A few years ago we became an organic coffee roaster so we take our organic coffee beans, we put that into our syrup, and then it takes on the flavor of coffee.

Farming is expensive. Insurance. Taxes. Equipment cost. Marketing the product. And costs keep rising.

CONNER: That's a lot of money. Where's a young farmer going to find it? I don't know. I do think every farmer does have to have alternate incomes.

The Conners had to get creative to keep the operation going. Kevin’s wife works one day every other week at a nursing home. The family raises Alpacas and Merino sheep and sells their wool. They raise cattle and sell some of that meat. They also sell a few vegetables from their garden. And run a popular Airbnb on the property.

CONNER: It's got to be the sum of the parts or you won't be profitable. You can’t do it.

Conner’s main job in the off-season is maintaining the miles of blue and green plastic line crisscrossing the forest.

CONNER: We have a lot of problems with bears on the farm, they will come up and chew on a main line.

Other times he’s clearing out dead trees.

SOUND: [Chopping tree]

In March, thousands of people converge on the county for a maple syrup festival. As many as 30,000 may show up on one weekend and a lot of them will want to tour Virginia’s only organic maple farm.

CONNER: We start off with everything to get from God, and as a result, we're stewards of what He's given us, and we want to make sure that people see him through our actions in our products, and in doing so we share not directly the gospel unless people are receptive to it, then we certainly will, but if not we plant that seed about Christ and what He's done for us.

Conner expects the next several years will bring their fair share of challenges. But for now, he’s still fit and active.

CONNER: What does it look like in 20 years? Do we hire people? What is that life gonna look like? And I think about that almost every day. Hopefully my son will be able to make enough money to live a life that honors God here on the farm.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, July 15th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Up next, the IRS policy change on pulpits and politics.

For decades, pastors have wrestled with what they can and cannot say from the pulpit around election time. Many opted to keep quiet ,fearing that bold speech might draw unwanted attention from the tax-man.

EICHER: WORLD Opinions contributor Daniel Suhr unpacks what changed, why it matters, and what it might mean for pastors and congregations.

DANIEL SUHR, COMMENTATOR: From the founding of our nation, through the dark days of the Civil War, to the Civil Rights Movement and the pro-life cause, pastors have preached to their congregations on the vital issues of the day.

MLK, JR: It is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps...

In a democracy, big issues are decided by voters in elections. Yet since 1954, pastors have been silenced from preaching on specific candidates and elections by the Johnson Amendment, a provision in the tax code that prohibits nonprofit organizations from participating in electoral advocacy.

BILLY GRAHAM: We thought this was going to be a kingdom and we were going to overthrow Rome and we were going to rule the world. That is going to happen someday, but not now. The cross before the crown. Some of us want the crown before the cross…

The Johnson Amendment is named for President Lyndon B. Johnson, whose family held powerful radio investments and who was irritated by criticism directed to him on some radio stations. The amendment was straightforward: 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations must be dedicated to tax-exempt charitable purposes, like education, scientific research, and social services for the poor. It makes sense to say that political advocacy for candidates doesn’t fit that general theme.

Because churches and other houses of worship are categorized under Section 501(c)(3), the practical impact of the Johnson Amendment meant that the Internal Revenue Service was responsible for policing the speech of churches. Basically, the policy was that pastors could not endorse candidates or talk about politics too much or their church could lose its tax status.

For years, the Alliance Defending Freedom pushed back against this policy with their Pulpit Freedom Initiative, arguing that the government had no right to tell pastors what they could say to their flock around election time.

DAVID JEREMIAH: Leaders will come and go, but God's kingdom will never be shaken. His purposes will be fulfilled regardless of who is in power.

Applying the Johnson Amendment to houses of worship offended several key constitutional principles. First, it violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause by inviting the IRS to monitor pastors’ sermons. Second, it violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause by penalizing pastors based on what they chose to preach within the four walls of their own church to their own flock. There was also an equal protection problem when the Johnson Amendment was used to bludgeon evangelical or Catholic voices into silence on pro-life or family issues while many African American churches were hosting Democratic candidates.

Yet because it was the law and because pastors feared the IRS, many pastors have self-censored their sermons to avoid talking about candidates. And because of the expansive interpretation of the Johnson Amendment pushed by secularist legal advocates, many pastors avoided talking about any political or legislative topic for fear of breaking the law.

Thankfully, the IRS has entered into a legal agreement to settle a lawsuit brought by the National Religious Broadcasters that will end this overbroad application of the Johnson Amendment. The agreement says, “When a house of worship in good faith speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith, it neither ‘participate[s]’ nor ‘intervene[s]’ in a ‘political campaign,’ within the ordinary meaning of those words. ... Bona fide communications internal to a house of worship, between the house of worship and its congregation, in connection with religious services,” does not constitute campaign intervention under the tax code.

This strikes an appropriate balance that respects both the First Amendment and campaign finance principles. It protects churches when they communicate to their own congregants, like in a Sunday sermon. It does not give churches carte blanche to act like a SuperPAC and start running TV ads targeting the entire electorate while still claiming tax-exempt status as a church.

For decades, the Johnson Amendment has been a boogeyman used by secularists to intimidate and bully churches from talking about politics, even as it has existed primarily as a paper tiger, on the books but not enforced by the IRS. Yet both because of their respect for the law and their worry about a lawsuit, many pastors have shied away from talking about candidates and even about the application of gospel values to current issues. This new declaration of policy should end that climate of fear and give pastors their full First Amendment freedom to preach to their flocks free from IRS monitoring.

I’m Daniel Suhr.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: Washington Wednesday. Hunter Baker joins us to talk about Elon Musk and his plan for a third party—what he’s suggesting, what history tells us about similar efforts … and where this one might be headed. And, we’ll meet a biology teacher who challenges Darwinism in the classroom and learn what that’s cost her. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is Biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

“Jesus said, ‘For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?’” —Matthew 16: 25, 26

Go now in grace and peace.

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